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Robert W. Avery, Esq.

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NJ & NY Marijuana Legalization News

Marijuana is likely going to be legalized soon
in New Jersey. Nothing is set in stone, and all we can do is watch.
Below you will find important legalization updates for both New Jersey
and New York’s legalization efforts. Until it is formally legalized, the
simple possession of pot carries many penalties.
If you are caught with marijuana, you should contact a criminal defense
attorney immediately.

New Jersey Legalization Update - 8/6/18

Clifton joins the growing list of towns which are banning marijuana sales town wide, before it becomes legal statewide. The following towns have similar bans. Manville (Somerset), Upper Freehold (Monmouth), Berkeley (Ocean County), Carlstadt (Bergen), Cranbury (Middlesex), East Rutherford (Bergen), Garfield (Bergen), Hasbrouck Heights (Bergen), Hazlet (Monmouth), Lodi (Bergen), Mahwah (Bergen), North Caldwell (Essex), Point Pleasant Beach (Ocean), Wall (Monmouth), Washington Township, Weehawken (Hudson), Woodcliff Lake (Bergen), Clifton (Passaic). These bans do not stop the use of marijauna if legalized but merely the sale. You will then be able to buy elsewhere and bring it into those towns.

New Jersey Legalization Update - 8/6/18

New Jersey Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, has come out in support of legalization. A former strong opponent to the movement, has been persuaded by a variety of things, but especially the unfair enforcement of pot laws regarding minorities. As more and more top law makers publicly favor recreational cannabis, we become ever more likely to make that a reality.

New Jersey Legalization Update - 7/25/18

There has been a significant update following the events discussed in the 7/23/18. Attorney General Grewal has issued another memorandum requesting all municipal prosecutors to adjourn and temporarily hold off on marijuana cases until September 4th, 2018. He will then update them on whether or not they may exercise their discretion to dismiss or not enforce pot cases. As such, three possibilities seem to exist:

(1) It seems possible that as a part of Governor Murphy’s (a legalization advocate) appointees that the result of what happens on September 4th may be a prosecutorial decriminalization of marijuana. Normally this would have to be done by the legislature to legalize, however if no one is enforcing the laws on the books, which currently hold pot as illegal, it may be almost as if it has been legalization. This would be a creative and beautiful move by the Governor to decriminalize, though legalization for recreational sales would still have to follow through the legislature.

(2) They may also fully leave discretion up to the individual municipal prosecutors. This would mean that certain towns which take a harder stance on weed, would prosecute, while others don't.

(3) They may also stick with their initial decision that they have no authority to not prosecute, essentially leaving the matter at the status quo.

New Jersey Legalization Update - 7/24/18

On a lighter note, it appears certain opponents to legalization only really have a problem with certain aspects of recreational use. Democratic Senator Ron Rice has stated he has an issue with marijuana infused sex toys and oils. Clearly, this issue is far beyond the merits of legalization and is being used a talking point.

Assemblyman Jamel Holley is taking a far better approach and simply saying that expedited expungements need to be a part of legalization.

Mayor Steve Fulop and Jersey City prosecutor Jake Hadnut issued a memo advising the municipal prosecutors to not prosecute or fully dismiss many cases. State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has told them that they have no authority to do so. A.G. Grewal may technically be entirely correct, but that may not stop Jersey City from following their original plan. This is especially so given that the A.G. is a an appointee of Governor Murphy, a legalization supporter. The A.G.’s office also specifically stated that they are not taking a position on legalization generally, thereby perhaps indicating that they will not enforce this technicality.

New Jersey Legalization Update - 7/18/18

Senator Jamel Holley, of Union County, has proposed changes to Senator Scutari’s legalization bill. This is a response to critics of Scutari’s bill didn’t go far enough to address the social issues regarding the legalization of cannabis. Among the amendments, Holley would have no limits on the number of dispensaries, expedite expungements for people with marijuana possession records, help underprivileged communities partake in business of legalization, set up mandatory spending for the tax revenues from legal weed. This final amendment would be aimed at ensuring a percentage of the monies would go to social projects such as education and drug prevention programs.

New York Legalization Update - 7/16/18

As discussed below, the NY Department of Health has issued its full findings in a lengthy analysis reviewing whether or not marijuana should be legalized. The report states that legalization is a better alternative to the present criminalization of weed. This puts us one step closer to science based approaches to pot, and to recreation legality in New York State. Ahead of a vote, the legislature will have to decide the limits of legality, such as who, where, when, and what types of marijuana will be able to be sold and consumed.

United States Marijuana Legalization 7/6/18

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer recently announced a bill to decriminalize marijuana on a federal level, meaning country wide. The bill, entitled the “Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act” seems to be pretty robust and multifaceted. It allows for grant programs to be created to assist defendants convicted for the simple possession of weed to expunge their criminal record. It would further decriminalize possession Federally, meaning they Federal government wouldn’t interfere with states that decide to legalize. It would also create a large medical research grant for further developments in the medical applications of marijuana. Senator Bernie Sanders has come out and co-sponsored the bill as well.

New Jersey Legalization Update 7/5/18

Things may be speeding up again for the fight for recreational use pot in NJ. Although the bills were tabled as the legislature sorted out the state budget, Senate President Steve Sweeney has recently indicated that he predicts legalization by the end of the summer. With that said, there is still a lot of opposition to legalization and nothing is certain as of now.

United States Marijuana Legalization 6/28/18

There has been a lot of talk recently about
allowing States to enact marijuana legalization laws without violating federal
law. Currently, legalization is in limbo as far as federal law.
Weed is a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it is categorized under the most
stringent banned substances. A recent bill, the Strengthening the Tenth
Amendment Through Entrusting States Act, may change all of this. The
bill, if passed, will allow for the growth, distribution, consumption, and
possession, as long as the laws of the governing State are followed. It
will also allow for financial institutions to finally get involved with
marijuana and the assets generated therefrom. This means that businesses
may longer have this barrier to contend with when filing for loans or deposits.
President Trump seems to support this bill, but who knows what the
legislature or him will actually do. Stay tuned for more news as it
evolves.

New Jersey Legalization Update 6/28/18

Legalization efforts have stalled for this
legislative term. Decisions as to this have been shelved until next
session and until a State budget is agreed to regarding the rest of NJ.
This delays hopes of pot being recreationally available in NJ, but does
not necessarily hurt its chances going forward.

Canadian Marijuana Legalization

We don’t normally talk about anywhere besides
the tristate area, but in huge news this week, the Canadian Senate has passed a
bill (by a wide margin) legalization recreational pot. This makes Canada
only the second (third if you count North Korea) country in the world to
legalize, the first being Uruguay. Legalization should go into effect
sometime in September. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, even though he has
come out in the past against weed, has shown great support for the bill.
The terms of legalization still need to be fully hammered out, but
generally will probably have an age requirement of 18. This age
requirement can, and probably will be, upped by the individual provinces (Most appear to be opting for a minimum 19).
Some provinces will be far more lenient on legal weed, with Alberta
already likely to have over 200 dispensaries, and Ontario only 40. In any
event, this is very good news and sets a precedent for the United States in the
fight to legalize.

New York Update 6/20/18

New York Commissioner of Health, Howard
Zucker, is in the process of finalized the long awaited Marijuana Legalization
report, and has preliminarily found that the benefits of legalization outweigh
the negatives. This report is expected to be considered by top NY officials
as we continue the march to recreational legalization in New York. The
legislature in Albany will be closing up this week for the year and so it is
highly unlikely that we will see any significant developments before 2019.

In further news, the NYPD will start giving
summonses for people caught smoking weed, rather than arresting them and
processing them regularly. This policy extends what was already put into
place for people caught in possession but without actually being caught in the
act of smoking or vaping. One caveat of this change is that people will
have to tender their ID and cannot be on parole or probation to be able to take
advantage of this, or otherwise risk being arrested normally. Additionally,
this obviously does not relate to driving while high or
smoking and driving in the DWI context. This new procedure will be in effect starting September
1st, 2018. The summons will consist of a $100 fine and a required court
appearance but won’t lead to a criminal record.

New Jersey Update 6/18/18

Barnegat Township has introduced an ordinance
banning the sale and growth of pot within town borders if it is eventually
legalized statewide. There will be a meeting on this on July 3rd.
Hopefully the ordinance is not approved and added to an ever-expanding
list of NJ towns preemptively banning pot.

Since 1990, around 1,000,000 people have in
New Jersey alone have been convicted for various weed related offenses.
Hopefully legalization happens soon! Stay tuned.

NJ Update 6/11/18

One of South New Jersey’s largest
dispensaries, Compassionate Care Foundation, has announced a massive expansion.
It plans to open up two new stores, one in both Moorestown and Cherry
Hill, as well as adding 135,000 square feet of cultivation.

Update 6/8/18 - Canada

Although this page concerns mostly the
tristate area, it is interesting to note legal changes throughout North America
and the world. Canada has come out in support of marijuana legalization
country wide. They will be leaving the specifics up to various provinces,
but this is a big move as Canada will now be only the second country (Uruguay
legalized recently and perhaps North Korea) in the world to legalize pot.

NJ Update 6/8/18

Woodcliff Lake of Bergen County NJ, has
approved an ordinance essentially banning the sale or production of marijuana.
They join a growing list of NJ towns against weeds legalization, even
ahead of it actually becoming legal statewide. See below for a fuller
list of all the towns in New Jersey that have followed suit.

New Jersey towns will only be allowed 6 months
post legalization to ban its sale within their borders. As such, many are
moving early to get this done, others are surely yet to come.

NJ Legalization Update, 6/5/18

The Township of Mahwah, as well as Carlstadt,
both of Bergen County, have come out against recreational legalization of pot.

There has been further talk about automatic
expungements and other expungement relief, for low level marijuana
possession and even some low level marijuana
distribution cases. The
president emeritus of New Jersey’s Municipal Prosecutors Association, has even
come out in support of such efforts. There have been approximately
400,000 possession convictions for weed since 2008. Although such a bill
would expedite such procedures, many defendants can currently apply to have
their weed convictions expunged.

NY Legalization Update, 6/5/18

Similar to the above New Jersey news, New York
may also be contemplating automatic expungements for all low-level weed
possession cases. This cause is supported, at the very least by NYS
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.

The marijuana legalization report, ordered by
Governor Cuomo, discussed below, should be out in the next few days. Town
hall meetings are being set up at public libraries in Albany, Berne,
Guilderland, Cohoes, and Delmar, for the public to be heard on their concerns
and thoughts on legalization generally. We will post more news as it comes
in.

Pennsylvania Marijuana News:

Pennsylvania appears primed to dramatically
expand its medical marijuana program. There was a deadline of May 17th
for growers and dispensary’s to apply for new permits. The Pennsylvania
Department of Health will now make decisions as to which permits to issue, but
it is expected to nearly double current capacity. This is not
recreational use, but hopefully PA will soon join NJ and NY on their evolving
view on legalized pot.

New York Marijuana Legalization Update,
5/30/18

As described in the 5/14/18 update, New York
Democrats have officially voted on and passed a resolution on legalizing
marijuana. Democrats are overwhelmingly the dominant political party in New
York and so with the group calling for legalization across New York State, we
can probably expect to see some sort of movement on the issue soon.

New York Marijuana Legalization Update,
5/22/18

Mayor de Blasio stated this week that the city
must plan for the reality that marijuana will be most likely legalized in the
near future. This is in addition to his direction, discussed below, a
week ago that the police review and amend their procedures and policies for
arresting people for the possession of weed.

New Jersey Pot Legalization Update, 5/22/18

A bill was introduced last week to the
legislature that would significantly expand NJ’s medical marijuana program.
Specifically, if passed, it will raise the amount of pot allowed to 2.5
ounces from 2 ounces; remove limitations on hospice care; permit edibles for
minors; allow prescriptions for 180 days rather than 90; allow
patients to go to any dispensary rather than just one; give legal protection
against discrimination for marijuana using patients; remove doctor registration
requirements so that more doctors can prescribe weed.

*The Borough of Manville has come out late
last week with a zoning ordinance aimed at barring all sales of pot, both
recreational and medical, within the towns borders.

New York Marijuana Legalization Update,
5/17/18

New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr.,
stated this week that the Borough of Manhattan will essentially stop
prosecuting marijuana possession cases starting on August 1st. The
reasons cited for this change are both the growing legalization movement and
the racially disparate treatment of prosecutions for weed. This step is in
addition to the fact that pot was essentially 'decriminalized' in NYC in 2014
by Mayor de Blasio, as well as his statement ordering the NYPD to review
their policies for the enforcement of pot laws. Presumably this new
change is only going to be effective in
Manhattan, although Brooklyn District Attorney Eric
Gonzalez says he is scaling back their pot possession prosecutions, and have
already done so by half.

Update 5/14/18

Governor Murphy reportedly is
considering “wide sweeping” pardons for marijuana convictions leading up
to or after recreational legalization. Whether he ultimately chooses to
do so or whether he has the authority to pardon so many thousands of weed
possession convictions remains to be seen. If he does pardon such cases,
current prosecutions may disappear and old convictions may be subject
to immediate expungement.

New York Marijuana Legalization Update,
5/14/18

The New York Post has reported that the NY
Democratic Party has plans to pass a resolution endorsing marijuana recreational
legalization. A meeting is currently planned for May 23rd at which this
proposal will be heard. While this doesn’t necessarily mean pot will be
legalized in NY, it does signal openness and hope that it soon will be,
particularly if Gubernatorial nominees such as Cynthia Nixon who has committed
to legalization are voted in.

Update 4/25/18

Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, has stated
that the State will be training more police officers as drug recognition
examiners (DRE). This seems to be relevant to the push to legalize pot in
New Jersey, as it is feared that there will be an uptick in high driving.
New Jersey currently has about 400 DRE’s within the state who are trained
in drug detection.

*Old Bridge Township has voted to ban the sale
of marijuana if it does become legalized.

Update 4/16/18 - United States

U.S. Senator Cory Gardner has confirmed that
President Trump told him that he will not be seeking federal enforcement of
Marijuana laws on the State level. This means that although Attorney
General Sessions has taken away the protections given by the Cole memo, enacted
under President Obama. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee has confirmed these
statements. It does not seem that pot will be legalized on a national
level, but rather the federal government will not interfere with state’s which
legalize, and may settle tax collection issues.

Update 4/16/18 - New York

Candidate for Governor of New York, Cynthia
Nixon, has publicly announced that a centerpiece of her election run will be on
Marijuana Legalization. Funnily enough, she has asked for donations in
denominations of $4.20. Governor Cuomo’s former anti cannabis position
seems to have also eased, as he formed a panel to review legalization
prospects. He also just commented that due to legalization in
Massachusetts earlier this year, it is inevitable that it will be legalized in
New York.

3/28/18

Medical marijuana in NJ is being expanded.
So far five new conditions, anxiety, chronic pain related to
musculoskeletal disorders and visceral origin pain, migraines, and Tourette’s
syndrome, now qualify for the program. Additionally, dispensaries will
now be allowed to open satellite locations as well as having their application
process expedited.

3/26/18 - New Jersey Towns Banning
Recreational Marijuana Sales

The following towns have embraced zoning laws /
ordinances against legalization: Manville (Somerset), Upper Freehold
(Monmouth), Berkeley (Ocean County), Carlstadt (Bergen), Cranbury (Middlesex),
Garfield (Bergen), Hasbrouck Heights (Bergen), Hazlet (Monmouth), Mahwah
(Bergen), North Caldwell (Essex), Point Pleasant Beach (Ocean), Wall
(Monmouth), Weehawken (Hudson), Woodcliff Lake (Bergen). Old Bridge
(Middlesex) has finished the first half of their process to approve an
ordinance blocking marijuana sales within their borders. Spotswood
(Middlesex) - A bill approved, although not an outright ban, significantly
curtails the possibility of marijuana based businesses. Importantly,
however, these towns do not have the authority to disallow private use of
marijuana if legalized, and only can ban the sale, manufacture, etc.

The following towns are awaiting votes or
other action to determine whether or not they will follow suit with the
formerly listed townships. Chatham Township (Morris), Hawthorne
(Passaic), Middletown (Monmouth), Oceanport (Monmouth), Parsippany-Troy Hills
(Morris), Seaside Heights (Ocean), Toms River (Ocean), Fairfield (Essex).

The following towns appear to have come out in
favor of legalization and presently are not anticipated to block marijuana
sales. Asbury Park (Monmouth), Jersey City (Hudson). Jersey City
may be changing their stance as they are expected this week to hear a measure
to ban distribution, manufacture, etc., throughout the city. Another
measure is looking to simply contain these activities to areas where it will not
affect residents.

At present as Monmouth, Ocean, and Cape May
counties are in opposition to any legalization bill at the state level and
within their borders. Within their borders it will be more up to
individual towns to block pot sales, but the county does hold some sway.

3/16/18

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora’s bill calls for up
to 400 dispensaries being permitted. It also calls for a lower tax
rate on legal pot sales in New Jersey. This bill still would allow for
home grown weed, permitting up to 6 plants, with 3 being mature or flowering at
a single time. Governor Murphey still plans to try to have marijuana
legalized in NJ by January 1st, 2019. Advocates are still trying to
convince many of legalizations benefits. One of the main blocks of opponents
lay in law enforcement and DUI enforcement. Police say that there are no
good tests to test for marijuana intoxication like there are for alcohol, where
chemical breath testing is readily available. Even so, things are moving
forward, and a legalization bill will likely go hand in hand with the upcoming
budget deals.

Update 3/8/18

Immediate expungement of records of low level
marijuana convictions is finally on the table! Annette Quijano, a NJ
State Assemblywoman this week introduced a bill that would allow for this,
freeing from the stigma attached to having a drug conviction on their record.
If passed, this bill would make finding federal housing, obtaining
student loans, finding employment, etc., far easier.

Update 2/19/18

On Thursday, February 15th, NJ assemblyman
Reed Gusciora, introduced a new bill to amend New Jersey’s medical marijuana
program. This is separate from the recreational legalization bill he has
been advocating. The new bill would allow for 12 more dispensaries,
for a total of 18. Currently there are only 6 throughout the State, and
this has caused trouble for a lot of people to travel to them to get their
medicine. The bill also contemplates adding new 43 medical conditions
that would be eligible for medical marijuana, one of which is chronic pain.
Other parts of the bill would quadruple the allowable amount of weed
purchased from one (1) ounce, to 4 (4) ounces. It would increase access
to edible, oils and other marijuana products. Currently only one of the 6
dispensaries sell anything more than raw marijuana to be smoked. It would
further allow doctors generally to prescribe the medicine rather than only
allowing a few specific doctors to do so. Obviously, this represents a
huge increase to access to medical marijuana, particularly if recreational
legalization fails. Stay tuned.

Update 2/15/18

Toms River town council has voted to table a
possible town ordinance that would ban the sale of pot. This does not
mean that this will not come into play later on, but it does show some more
openness to the possibility of allowing recreational marijuana in the town.

Bridgewater Township, Councilman Matthew
Moench, seems to be urging the town to preemptively ban legalized recreational
marijuana. We’ll keep you up to date if his ill thought-out plan is
ever successful.

On March 5, the NJ Assembly’s committee on
Oversight, Reform & Federal Relations will be having a meeting to hear the
publics thoughts on cannabis legalization

News

Legal marijuana access is likely going to
increase this year in New Jersey. Weed legalization bills have passed the
NJ legislature in past years, they were vetoed by former governor Chris
Christie. Our new Governor, Phil Murphy, states that he is unopposed to
such changes in the law. Currently the simple possession of pot carries many penalties.

Senate Bill No. 830, New Jersey’s latest marijuana legalization bill,
was introduced to the Senate on January 9, 2018. S830 (also the companion
bill spoken about below A1348) allows people 21 and older to possess up to an
ounce of pot (28 grams), 16 ounces of solid edibles, 72 ounces of drinkables, 7
grams of marijuana concentrate and grow up to 6 plants with only three of them
being mature at any one time. The law does not allow for public open use.
The bill will deny employers, without good cause, for taking action
against employees for their pot use outside the workplace. Governor Phil
Murphy has promised to sign marijuana legalization bills into law and so this
version may be what is eventually signed into law.

Home grown provisions are newly introduced by
Assemblyman Reed Gusciora. Formerly the bills did not include a legal
method by which NJ residents could grow their own weed in the comfort of their
home.

Many towns and counties are thinking of opting
out of the legalization and not permitting distributors on their lands.
While it would still become decriminalized or fully legal to possess in
these areas, sale of the pot might not be allowed. Ocean County has thus
far come out against legalization. Ocean County Freeholder Gerry P.
Litle, has seemingly even made the patently wrong assertion that because pot is
a Schedule 1 drug, it must be more addictive cocaine, a Schedule 2 drug.
Berkeley Township, Point Pleasant Beach, and Seaside Heights have so far
decided they will not allow the sale of weed. The Monmouth County Board
of Freeholders have also come out publically against legalization in general,
although there is not yet a specific plan to ban it if it becomes legal.

Asbury park and Jersey City have both come out
in support of legalization.

New York Marijuana Legalization News

In February of 2017, Governor Cuomo stated
that he is unconvinced on recreational marijuana. He appears to be
reconsidering that stance as of January 2018, after commenting on the fact that
New York sits between both Vermont and Massachusetts who have already
legalized, and New Jersey where legalization of recreational pot may soon be a
reality. Polls seem to indicate that a majority of voters, particularly
young voters, support the legalization of weed.

In 2017, Senator Cory Booker proposed the
Marijuana Justice Act. If enacted, this would end the U.S. governments
listing of pot as a Schedule 1 drug. Schedule 1 drugs include certain
other likely misclassified drugs such as LSD, MDMA, and Psilocybin, as well as more harmful drugs like
Bath Salts, Heroin, and GHB. The bill also would
incentivize legalization of weed in states whose drug
laws disproportionately affect minorities (this would be most states).

Republican Senator Thom Tillis, a member of
the senate judiciary committee alongside Senator Booker, while cautious, seems
to agree with Booker and will likely be pushing for legalization along with
him. While the bill seems unlikely to pass in the near term, given the
Republican dominated legislature, it is something to keep an eye on in the future.